speedy justice

So I'm listening to this wonderful teaching by Dwayne Roberts about persistence in prayer and how it often seems that we pray with no results. That is where I've felt I've been lately--praying and praying with no perceptible change in my environment (although, admittedly, there have been changes in myself). It gets tiring and I often struggle with the question, "what's the use?"

One of the passages in the message is that of the unjust judge in Luke 18, and the promise the Lord gives to "avenge" his chosen ones speedily. I like the way the New Living Translation puts verse 7:

"...don't you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who plead
with him day and night?"

What I fight the most in my times of prayer is the discouragement that comes from the lie of Satan that I'm not making any difference. Jesus promises us here that if we will press on and plead with Him day and night, through His mighty power and with signs and wonders He will justify our commitment to prayer and punish the enemy for the lies he whispers.

Press on, and God bless!

just a short thought on being grateful

Several of us at the church have been pushing for a greater awareness of what it means to be grateful lately. My brother has been especially pivotal in bringing this valuable lesson to the forefront, coupling it with the lessons on perspective that the Lord has been working in him for close to a year now.

I found a quote today, and the potential ramifications hit rather close to home. It simply states:

"No one is as capable of gratitude as one who has emerged from the kingdom of
night." ~Elie Wiesel

When we pray for patience, God allows us to go through trials through teach us to push through. When we ask for more faith, sometimes He hides His face so that we have to lock into the last thing He said and trust in the face of all odds.

In the quest for grattitude, the choice is simple. We can either choose to be grateful in all things....or we can ask to be more grateful without practicing it and go through trials that will teach us to be more grateful until we finally learn the lesson.